Electronic devices and methods for selecting and displaying multimodal content

ABSTRACT

Disclosed is a method implemented in software for providing digital multimodal content to a first user of an electronic device. The method includes displaying digital multimedia content to a first user, determining a digital multimodal content to be provided to the first user based on a demographic information, a psychographic information or a preference of the first user. The method may include receiving an input from the first user on a graphical user interface element that is displayed along with multimedia content, and may include triggering playback of the digital multimodal content in response to the first user performing actions on the graphical user interface element. The method has particular advantages as a method of providing a customized user-experience for a prospective or possible real estate transaction.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The invention is related to devices and methods that facilitate thecreation and displaying of near-custom-targeted digital content in apresentation context.

BACKGROUND

Conventional digital cameras, cell phones/smart phones and other imagecapturing devices that are capable of recording sound are nowubiquitous. These devices allow a user to capture an image to produce animage file and to record audio content that can be attached to the imagefile. Information (called “metadata”) such as the recording date, therecording location, the photographer's name, a description of the event,and other information can be recorded, stored and associated with anaudio, visual or video file. However, there are limitations with thesedevices. For example, with existing devices, only one audio file can beattached per image. This means that if one desires to append an audiorecording to an existing audio file, the conventional digital camerawill erase the existing audio file and replace it with the appendedaudio information.

Thus, current technology does not provide any means for a user to viewadditional multimodal content (audio, visual, or video) that isassociated with a first multimedia content type.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of described systems with some aspects of the presentdisclosure, as set forth in the remainder of the present application andwith reference to the drawings.

SUMMARY

According to embodiments provided herein, there are devices and methodsimplemented in software for providing content to a first user. Themethod may include displaying digital content to a first user,determining multimodal content to be provided to the first user based onat least one aspect of the first user, such as a psychographicpreference of the first user (eg a real estate preference) or ademographic preference, for example. The method may also includereceiving an input from the first user on a graphical user interfaceelement that is displayed along with the digital content, and triggeringplayback of the determined multimodal content in response to the userperforming one or more input actions, such as touching a graphical userinterface element (such as hovering, clicking, and double clicking).

The invention may be embodied as a system that includes an electronicdevice having one or more possessors configured to provide multimodalcontent to a first user, and configured to determine multimodal contentto be provided to the first user based on at least one aspect of thefirst user, such as demographic or phychographic information, or apreference of the first user associated with a real estate. The devicemay also, via software running on at least one processor, triggerplayback of the determined multimodal content.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate the various embodiments of systems,methods, and other aspects of the disclosure. A person with ordinaryskills in the art will appreciate that the illustrated elementboundaries (e.g., boxes, groups of boxes, or other shapes) in thefigures represent one example of the boundaries. In some examples, oneelement may be designed as multiple elements, or multiple elements maybe designed as one element. In some examples, an element shown as aninternal component of one element may be implemented as an externalcomponent in another, and vice versa. Further, the elements may not bedrawn to scale.

Various embodiments will hereinafter be described in accordance with thedrawings, which are provided to illustrate and not to limit the scope inany manner, wherein similar designations denote similar elements, and inwhich:

FIG. 1 is a block diagram that illustrates a system environment in whichvarious embodiments of the method and the system may be implemented;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram that illustrates an electronic deviceconfigured for providing multimodal content to a first user;

FIG. 3A illustrates a user interface configured to display digitalcontent and the multimodal content to a first user, and FIG. 3B alsoillustrates a user interface configured to display digital content andthe multimodal content to a first user;

FIG. 4 illustrates a user interface displayed to a second user formultimodal content recording;

FIG. 5 is a flowchart that illustrates a method for providing multimodalcontent to a first user on an electronic device; and

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of a computer system according to theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present disclosure may be best understood with reference to thedetailed figures and description set forth herein. Those skilled in theart will readily appreciate that the detailed descriptions given hereinwith respect to the figures are for explanatory purposes as the methodsand systems may extend beyond the described embodiments. For example,the teachings presented and the needs of a particular application mayyield multiple alternative and suitable approaches to implement thefunctionality of any detail described herein. Therefore, any approachmay extend beyond the particular implementation choices in the followingembodiments described and shown.

References to “one embodiment,” “at least one embodiment,” “anembodiment,” “one example,” “an example,” “for example,” and so onindicate that the embodiment(s) or example(s) may include a particularfeature, structure, characteristic, property, element, or limitation butthat not every embodiment or example necessarily includes thatparticular feature, structure, characteristic, property, element, orlimitation. Further, repeated use of the phrase “in an embodiment” doesnot necessarily refer to the same embodiment.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram that shows an exemplary system environment100. The system environment 100 typically includes an electronic device102, a database server 104, and a communication network 106. Theelectronic device 102 and the database server 104 are typicallycommunicatively coupled with each other via the communication network106. In an embodiment, the electronic device 102 may communicate withthe database server 104 using one or more protocols such as, but notlimited to, Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) protocol and Java DatabaseConnectivity (JDBC) protocol.

The electronic device 102 may refer to a computing device used by thefirst user. In an embodiment, the first user may be a user who isinterested to view digital multimedia content, such as images and/orvideos of real estates. The electronic device 102 may comprise of one ormore processors and one or more memory units (aka “memories”). The oneor more memories may include computer readable code that may beexecutable by the one or more processors to perform predeterminedoperations. In an embodiment, the electronic device 102 presents auser-interface to the first user for providing digital content to afirst user. Examples of the electronic devices generally, and electronicdevice 102 may include, but are not limited to, a personal computer, alaptop, a personal digital assistant (PDA), a mobile device which mayinclude a tablet, smart phone or smart watch such as an Apple Watch® orany other computing device.

The electronic device 102 is preferably configured to provide digitalmultimodal content (aka “digital content”) to a first user, where thedigital content may originate from a plurality of users. The electronicdevice 102 may be configured to determine multimodal content to beprovided to the first user based on at least one of demographic orpsychographic information of the first user, such as a real estatepreference. The electronic device 102 may be configured to receive aninput from the first user on a graphical user interface element that isdisplayed along with the digital multimedia content. Preferably, theinput corresponds to performing one or more actions by the first user onthe graphical user interface element. The electronic device 102 may beconfigured to trigger playback of the determined digital multimodalcontent in response to the user performing one or more actions on thegraphical user interface element, such as hovering, clicking, doubleclicking, and the like.

The database server 104 may refer to a computing device that isconfigured to store demographic and psychographic information andpreferences of each of the plurality of users, including real estatepreferences. The database server 104 includes a special purposeoperating system specifically configured to perform one or more databaseoperations on the multimedia content. Examples of database operationsmay include, but are not limited to, Select, Insert, Update, Push, Pull,and Delete. Preferably, the database server 104 includes hardware thatmay be configured to perform one or more predetermined operations. Thedatabase server 104, and database servers generally, may be realizedthrough various technologies such as, but not limited to, Microsoft® SQLServer or Access® or Azure®, Oracle®, IBM DB2®, PostgreSQL®, MySQL® andSQLite®, and the like.

The database server 104 may be configured to transmit the demographicand/or psychographic information of each user and preferences of eachuser to the electronic device 102 for data processing, via thecommunication network 106. Additionally, the database server 104 may beconfigured to store recorded digital multimodal content for theplurality of users, and may be configured to store the digitalmultimedia content. And, the stored content may be transmitted to theelectronic device 102 for displaying to a first user. Further, suchstored digital multimedia content may be provided to a second user, suchas a real estate agent or marketer, who may record digital content.

A person with ordinary skills in the art will understand that the scopeof the disclosure is not limited to the database server 104 as aseparate entity. In an embodiment, the functionalities of the databaseserver 104 can be integrated into the electronic device 102.

The communication network 106 may correspond to a communication mediumthrough which the electronic device 102 and the database server 104 maycommunicate with each other. Such a communication may be performed inaccordance with various wired and wireless communication protocols.Examples of such wired and wireless communication protocols include, butare not limited to, Transmission Control Protocol and Internet Protocol(TCP/IP), User Datagram Protocol (UDP), Hypertext Transfer Protocol(HTTP), File Transfer Protocol (FTP), ZigBee, EDGE, infrared (IR), IEEE802.11, 802.16, 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G, 6G cellular communication protocols,and/or Bluetooth (BT) communication protocols, for example.Additionally, the communication network 106 may include, withoutlimitation, the Internet, a cloud network, a Wireless Fidelity (Wi-Fi)network, a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN), a Local Area Network(LAN), a telephone line (POTS), and/or a Metropolitan Area Network(MAN).

FIG. 2 is a block diagram that illustrates an electronic device 102configured for providing multimodal content to a first user, and isexplained in conjunction with elements from FIG. 1. Here, the electronicdevice 102 includes a processor 202, a memory 204, a transceiver 206, aninput/output unit 208, and a multimodal content determination unit 210.The processor 202 is further preferably communicatively coupled to thememory 204, the transceiver 206, the input/output unit 208, and themultimodal content determination unit 210, while the transceiver 206 ispreferably communicatively coupled to the communication network 106.

The processor 202 comprises suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces,and/or code that may be configured to execute a set of instructionsstored in the memory 204, and may be implemented based on severalprocessor technologies known in the art. The processor 202 works incoordination with the transceiver 206, the input/output unit 208, andthe multimodal content determination unit 210 for providing multimodalcontent to a first user. Examples of the processor 202 include, but notlimited to, processors such as an X86-based processor, a ReducedInstruction Set Computing (RISC) processor, an Application-SpecificIntegrated Circuit (ASIC) processor, and a Complex Instruction SetComputing (CISC) processor, for example.

The memory 204 comprises suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces, and/orcode that may be configured to store the set of instructions, which areexecuted by the processor 202. Preferably, the memory 204 is configuredto store one or more programs, routines, or scripts that are executed incoordination with the processor 202. Additionally, the memory 204 may bea Random-Access Memory (RAM), a Read-Only Memory (ROM), a Hard DiskDrive (HDD), a storage server, or a Secure Digital (SD) card.

The transceiver 206 comprises suitable logic, circuitry, interfaces,and/or code that may be configured to receive multimodal content to beprovided to the first user via the communication network 106. Thetransceiver 206 is preferably configured to receive the recordedmultimodal content for the plurality of users, and is preferably furtherconfigured to receive the demographic or psychographic informationassociated with users as well as preferences of the first user.

The transceiver 206 may implement one or more known technologies tosupport wired or wireless communication with the communication network106. In an embodiment, the transceiver 206 may include, but is notlimited to, an antenna, a radio frequency (RF) transceiver, one or moreamplifiers, a tuner, one or more oscillators, a digital signalprocessor, a Universal Serial Bus (USB) device, a coder-decoder (CODEC)chipset, a subscriber identity module (SIM) card, and/or a local buffer.Also, the transceiver 206 may communicate via wireless communicationwith networks, such as the Internet, an Intranet and/or a wirelessnetwork, such as a cellular telephone network, a wireless local areanetwork (LAN) and/or a metropolitan area network (MAN). Accordingly, thewireless communication may use any of a plurality of communicationstandards, protocols and technologies, such as: Global System for MobileCommunications (GSM), Enhanced Data GSM Environment (EDGE), widebandcode division multiple access (W-CDMA), code division multiple access(CDMA), time division multiple access (TDMA), Bluetooth, WirelessFidelity (Wi-Fi) (e.g., IEEE 802.11a, IEEE 802.11b, IEEE 802.11g and/orIEEE 802.11n), voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), Wi-MAX, a protocolfor email, instant messaging, and/or Short Message Service (SMS).

The input/output unit 208 comprises suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces, and/or code that may be configured to provide one or moreinputs for providing multimodal content to a first user. Theinput/output unit 208 comprises of various input and output devices thatare configured to communicate with the processor 202. Examples of theinput devices include, but are not limited to, a keyboard, a mouse, ajoystick, a touch screen, a microphone, a camera, and/or a dockingstation. Examples of the output devices include, but are not limited to,a display screen and/or a speaker. Further, the display screen ispreferably configured to display multimedia content to a first user,including content created by a second user, and the speaker plays audiocontent.

The multimodal content determination unit 208 comprises suitable logic,circuitry, interfaces, and/or code that may be configured to determinedigital multimodal content to be provided to the first user based on atleast one of demographic information of the first user, and preferencesof the first user associated with a real estate. The multimodal contentdetermination unit 208 may be further configured to determinepreferences of the first user associated with the real estate based onplurality of data sources using one or more machine learning techniques,and may be further configured to determine demographic information ofthe first user via data sources or machine learning.

In an exemplary operation, the second user who will be administering theapplication installed on the electronic device 102 for providing themultimodal content to the first user may upload a plurality of digitalmultimedia content, such as images and videos on the database server104. Preferably, each of the plurality of multimedia content isassociated with at least one tag (where each tag may be used to retrievethe multimedia content from the database server 104). For example, animage of a tiger may have an associated tag of ‘apartment’, ‘duplex’,‘single family’ and the like.

Further, the second user may record multimodal content for the pluralityof users and associate each content with at least one demographic orpsychographic information or preference of each of the plurality ofusers (known, discovered, or anticipated). In an embodiment, thedemographic information of each of the plurality of users is determinedfrom a plurality of sources and is stored in a database server. Forexample, the second user may know the ethnicity and preferred languageof a first user. Accordingly, the second user may record an audio orvideo in the preferred language of the first user and may modify theaccent of the audio as per the intonation of the ethnicity of the firstuser. Preferably, each of the recorded multimodal content is associatedwith one or more tags so that tags of the multimedia content and tags ofthe multimodal content may be compared to provide the most relevantmultimodal content for the first user.

The first user may utilize a software application installed on theelectronic device 102 for viewing the multimodal content. The first usermay provide a query to view multimedia content, such as images or videoassociated with a real estate or any other similar categories. Forexample, the first user may type the query “Show me real estates inArlington Tex.”. In response to the search query, the processor 202 mayretrieve the relevant multimedia content from the database server 104and the display screen of the input/output unit 208 may display themultimedia content to the first user from a plurality of users. Forexample, the processor 202 may search and retrieve all multimediacontent that have tags ‘real estate’, ‘Nashville’ and ‘Tennessee’ fromthe database server 104 and then display the retrieved multimediacontent to the first user.

After displaying the multimedia content, the multimodal contentdetermination unit 210 may be configured to receive demographic and/orpsychographic information and preferences of the first user, such asreal estate preferences, from the database server 104, via thetransceiver 206. Additionally, the multimodal content determination unit210 may be configured to determine the demographic/psychographicinformation and preferences of the first user using one or more machinelearning techniques. For example, demographic information may includedetails about the age, race, ethnicity, gender, marital status, income,education, and employment of the first user. Psychographic informationmay include details such as safety, or status, for example. Examples ofthe preferences of the first user may include ‘preference for renting’,‘preference for independent villas’, ‘preference for garden’, and thelike.

Further, the multimodal content determination unit 210 may be configuredto determine digital multimodal content to be provided to the first userbased on demographic and/or psychographic information and preferences ofthe first user, such as real estate preferences. In continuation to theabove example, an audio content or a video content associated with eachof the multimedia content for display to the first user is identified.For example, the first user is shown an image of a real estate inArlington, Tex. Along with the image, the first user is also shown agraphical user interface element. The multimodal content determinationunit 210 may be configured to determine an audio content associated withthe image that is being shown to the first user, and the audio contentmay provide further information about the real estate in Arlington, Tex.The audio content may further include information about the real estate(such as “available for rent” or has room for a garden. Likewise, avideo content may be determined to show the interior and exterior partsof the real estate image to the first user.

After the multimodal content to be provided to the first user isdetermined, a hyperlink (internal or external) is associated to thegraphical user interface element that is shown to the user along withthe multimedia content to enable the first user to navigate and view themultimodal content. While the first user is viewing the multimediacontent, an input from the first user may be received via theinput/output unit 208 on the graphical user interface element. The inputmay correspond to performing one or more actions by the first user onthe graphical user interface element, such as hovering, or clicking.

In response to the input from the user, input/output unit 208 isconfigured to trigger playback of the determined multimodal content. Forexample, the first user views the image of the real estate in ArlingtonTex. and then clicks on the graphical user interface element. Inresponse to the clicking, at least one digital multimodal content may beprovided to the user. The first user can then listen to the audiocontent and/or view the video content. In an embodiment, the multimodalcontent determination unit 210 may be configured to modify the one ormore characteristics associated with the audio content and the videocontent based on the demographic information or psychographicinformation of the first user, and/or preferences of the first userassociated with the real estate. The one or more characteristics mayinclude annotations, tone, subtitles, pitch, language, and the like.After the first user views the multimodal content, the first user mayprovides feedback on the multimodal content.

Below are a few examples of implementation of the invention.

Digital Multimedia Content Displayed to the User: Image

Digital Multimodal Content Provided to the User: Audio

In an exemplary scenario, consider that a User A is interested in realestate A and hence the user searches on a mobile app for the real estateA. In response, the mobile app may display the image of the real estateA. Along with the image the user A may be displayed a playback icon.Once the user clicks on the playback icon then an audio contentassociated with the real estate A may be played to the User A. The audiocontent may be identified by the electronic device based on thedemographic data of the User. For example, the audio content may includeadditional information associated with the real estate A and one or morecharacteristics of the audio content, and may be modified based on thelanguage and demographic data of the User A.

Digital Multimedia Content Displayed to the User: Image

Digital Multimodal Content Provided to the User: Video

In another embodiment, in response to User A clicking on the playbackicon after viewing the image, the User A may be then displayed a videocontent associated with the real estate A. For example, the videocontent may include additional information associated with the realestate A and one or more characteristics of the video content, includingannotations or subtitles and the like which may be modified based on thelanguage and demographic data of the User A. For example, the videocontent may show the User A the interior and exterior environment of thereal estate A.

Digital Multimedia Content Displayed to the User: Video

Digital Multimodal Content Provided to the User: Video

In an exemplary scenario, consider that a User B is interested in realestate B and hence the user searches on a mobile app installed in theelectronic device for the real estate B. In response, the mobile app maydisplay a video file of the real estate B. Along with the video file theuser B may be displayed a playback icon. Once the user clicks on theplayback icon then another video content associated with the real estateB may be played to the User B. Other video content may be identified bythe electronic device based on the demographic data of the User. Forexample, the other video content may include additional informationassociated with the real estate B and one or more characteristics of theother video content based on the language and demographic data of theUser B.

Digital Multimedia Content Displayed to the User: Video

Digital Multimodal Content Provided to the User: Audio

In another exemplary scenario, once the user B clicks on the playbackicon then an audio content associated with the real estate B may beplayed to the User B. The audio content may be identified by theelectronic device based on the demographic data of the User B. Forexample, the audio content may include additional information associatedwith the real estate B and one or more characteristics of the audiocontent modified based on the language and demographic data of the UserB.

A person skilled in the art will understand that the scope of thedisclosure is not limited to displaying only one audio content or onlyone video content to the user in response to the user clicking on thegraphical user interface element. Further, a plurality of audio filesand video files may be played for the user, including a combination ofan audio file and a video file may be played for the user in response tothe user clicking on the graphical user interface element.

A person skilled in the art will understand that the scope of thedisclosure is not limited to providing multimodal content to a firstuser based on the aforementioned factors and using the aforementionedtechniques, and that the examples provided do not limit the scope of thedisclosure.

FIGS. 3A and 3B illustrate user interfaces 300 and 400 configured todisplay the multimedia content (302 a, 302 b) and the multimodal contentto a first user. The multimedia content (302 a, 302 b) may be displayedto a user A. Along with the multimedia content, a graphical userinterface (301 a, 301 b) is also displayed to the user A. After viewingthe multimedia content (302 a, 302 b), the user A may click on thegraphical user interface (301 a, 301 b). In response to such an action,the electronic device 102 may be configured to provide multimodalcontent comprising at least one of an audio content or a video contentto the user A.

FIG. 4 illustrates a user interface 500 displayed to a second user formultimodal content recording. The second user may view a multimediacontent 302 c. Along with the multimedia content 302 c, the second usermay be shown three user interface elements, such as the record button401, stop recording button 402, and save recording button 403. Afterviewing the multimedia content 302 c, the second user may click on therecord button 401 to initiate recording of the multimodal contentassociated with the multimedia content 302 c. For example, the seconduser may click on the record button 401 and then record an audio contentto be associated with the multimedia content 302 c. Similarly, thesecond user may click on the record button 401 and then record a videocontent to be associated with the multimedia content 302 c.

Once the recording is finished then the second user may click on thestop recording button 402 to stop the recording. Further, the seconduser may click save recording button 403 so that the recorded multimodalcontent (audio content and video content) gets associated with themultimedia content 302 c.

FIG. 5 is a flowchart that illustrates a method 600 for providingmultimodal content to a first user on an electronic device 102. Themethod begins in a Start step 602 and proceeds to a Display step 604.

In the Display step 604, the electronic device 102 displays multimediacontent to a first user from a plurality of users. Then, in aDetermining step 606, the electronic device 102 determines multimodalcontent to be provided to the first user based on at least one ofdemographic information of the first user, and preferences of the firstuser associated with a real estate. At Receiving input step 608, theelectronic device 102 receives an input from the first user on agraphical user interface element that is displayed along with themultimedia content. In an embodiment, the input corresponds toperforming one or more actions by the first user on the graphical userinterface element. Further, at a Triggering playback step 610, theelectronic device 102 triggers playback of the determined multimodalcontent in response to the user performing one or more actions on thegraphical user interface element, and Control passes at the Stop step612.

FIG. 6 illustrates a block diagram of an exemplary computer system 601for implementing embodiments consistent with the present disclosure.

Variations of a computer system 601 may be used for performing opticalcharacter recognition on an image including a plurality of printedcharacters. The computer system 601 may comprise a central processingunit (“CPU” or “processor”) 602. The processor 602 may comprise at leastone data processor for executing program components for executing user-or system-generated requests. A user may include a person, a personusing a device such as such as those included in this disclosure, or adevice itself. Additionally, the processor 602 may include specializedprocessing units such as integrated system (bus) controllers, memorymanagement control units, floating point units, graphics processingunits, digital signal processing units, or the like. In variousimplementations the processor 602 may include a microprocessor, such asAMD Athlon, Duron or Opteron, ARM's application, embedded or secureprocessors, IBM PowerPC, Intel's Core, Itanium, Xeon, Celeron or otherline of processors, for example. Accordingly, the processor 602 may beimplemented using mainframe, distributed processor, multi-core,parallel, grid, or other architectures. Some embodiments may utilizeembedded technologies like application-specific integrated circuits(ASICs), digital signal processors (DSPs), or Field Programmable GateArrays (FPGAs), for example.

Processor 602 is disposed in communication with one or more input/output(I/O) devices via I/O interface 603. Accordingly, the I/O interface 603may employ communication protocols/methods such as, without limitation,audio, analog, digital, monoaural, RCA, stereo, IEEE-1394, serial bus,universal serial bus (USB), infrared, PS/2, BNC, coaxial, component,composite, digital visual interface (DVI), high-definition multimediainterface (HDMI), RF antennas, S-Video, VGA, IEEE 802.n/b/g/n/x,Bluetooth, cellular (e.g., code-division multiple access (CDMA),high-speed packet access (HSPA+), global system for mobilecommunications (GSM), long-term evolution (LTE), WiMax, or the like, forexample.

Using the I/O interface 603, the computer system 601 may communicatewith one or more I/O devices. For example, the input device 604 may bean antenna, keyboard, mouse, joystick, (infrared) remote control,camera, card reader, fax machine, dongle, biometric reader, microphone,touch screen, touchpad, trackball, sensor (e.g., accelerometer, lightsensor, GPS, gyroscope, proximity sensor, or the like), stylus, scanner,storage device, transceiver, video device/source, or visors, forexample. Likewise, an output device 605 may be a printer, fax machine,video display (e.g., cathode ray tube (CRT), liquid crystal display(LCD), light-emitting diode (LED), plasma, or the like), or audiospeaker, for example. In some embodiments, a transceiver 606 may bedisposed in connection with the processor 602. The transceiver 606 mayfacilitate various types of wireless transmission or reception. Forexample, the transceiver 606 may include an antenna operativelyconnected to a transceiver chip (example devices include the TexasInstruments® WiLink WL1283, Broadcom® BCM4750IUB8, InfineonTechnologies® X-Gold 618-PMB9800, or the like), providing IEEE802.11a/b/g/n, Bluetooth, FM, global positioning system (GPS), and/or2G/3G/5G HSDPA/HSUPA communications, for example.

In some embodiments, the processor 602 may be disposed in communicationwith a communication network 608 via a network interface 607. Thenetwork interface 607 is adapted to communicate with the communicationnetwork 608. The network interface 607 may employ connection protocolsincluding, without limitation, direct connect, Ethernet (e.g., twistedpair 10/100/1000 Base T), transmission control protocol/internetprotocol (TCP/IP), token ring, or IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/x, for example. Thecommunication network 608 may include, without limitation, a directinterconnection, local area network (LAN), wide area network (WAN),wireless network (e.g., using Wireless Application Protocol), or theInternet, for example. Using the network interface 607 and thecommunication network 608, the computer system 601 may communicate withdevices such as shown a mobile/cellular phone 610, a Point of SaleTerminal 611, or a laptop 609. Other exemplary devices may include,without limitation, personal computer(s), server(s), fax machines,printers, scanners, various mobile devices such as cellular telephones,smartphones (e.g., Apple iPhone, Blackberry, Android-based phones,etc.), tablet computers, eBook readers (Amazon Kindle, Nook, etc.),laptop computers, notebooks, gaming consoles (Microsoft Xbox, NintendoDS, Sony PlayStation, etc.), or the like. In some embodiments, thecomputer system 601 may itself embody one or more of these devices.

In some embodiments, the processor 602 may be disposed in communicationwith one or more memory devices (e.g., RAM 613, ROM 614, etc.) via astorage interface 612. The storage interface 612 may connect to memorydevices including, without limitation, memory drives, removable discdrives, etc., employing connection protocols such as serial advancedtechnology attachment (SATA), integrated drive electronics (IDE),IEEE-1394, universal serial bus (USB), fiber channel, small computersystems interface (SCSI), etc. The memory drives may further include adrum, magnetic disc drive, magneto-optical drive, optical drive,redundant array of independent discs (RAID), solid-state memory devices,or solid-state drives, for example.

The memory devices may store a collection of program or databasecomponents, including, without limitation, an operating system 616, userinterface application 617, web browser 618, mail server 619, mail client620, user/application data 621 (e.g., any data variables or data recordsdiscussed in this disclosure) for example. The operating system 616 mayfacilitate resource management and operation of the computer system 601.Examples of operating systems include, without limitation, AppleMacintosh OS X, UNIX, Unix-like system distributions (e.g., BerkeleySoftware Distribution (BSD), FreeBSD, NetBSD, OpenBSD, etc.), Linuxdistributions (e.g., Red Hat, Ubuntu, Kubuntu, etc.), IBM OS/2,Microsoft Windows (XP, Vista/7/8, etc.), Apple iOS, Google Android,Blackberry OS, or the like.

A user interface 617 if for facilitating the display, execution,interaction, manipulation, or operation of program components throughtextual or graphical facilities. For example, user interfaces mayprovide computer interaction interface elements on a display systemoperatively connected to the computer system 601, such as cursors,icons, check boxes, menus, scrollers, windows, or widgets, for example.Graphical user interfaces (GUIs) may be employed, including, withoutlimitation, Apple Macintosh operating systems' Aqua, IBM OS/2, MicrosoftWindows (e.g., Aero, Metro, etc.), Unix X-Windows, or web interfacelibraries (e.g., ActiveX, Java, Javascript, AJAX, HTML, Adobe Flash,etc.), for example.

In some embodiments, the computer system 601 may implement a web browser618 stored program component. The web browser 618 may be a hypertextviewing application, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Google Chrome,Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, or Microsoft Edge, for example. Secureweb browsing may be provided using HTTPS (secure hypertext transportprotocol), secure sockets layer (SSL), Transport Layer Security (TLS),or the like. Web browsers may utilize facilities such as AJAX, DHTML,Adobe Flash, JavaScript, Java, or application programming interfaces(APIs), for example. In some embodiments the computer system 601 mayimplement a mail server 619 stored program component. The mail server619 may be an Internet mail server such as Microsoft Exchange, or thelike. The mail server may utilize facilities such as ASP, ActiveX, ANSIC++/C #, Microsoft .NET, CGI scripts, Java, JavaScript, PERL, PHP,Python, or WebObjects, for example. The mail server 619 may utilizecommunication protocols such as internet message access protocol (IMAP),messaging application programming interface (MAPI), Microsoft Exchange,post office protocol (POP), simple mail transfer protocol (SMTP), or thelike. In some embodiments, the computer system 601 may implement a mailclient 620 stored program component. The mail client 620 may be a mailviewing application, such as Apple Mail, Microsoft Entourage, MicrosoftOutlook, or Mozilla Thunderbird.

In some embodiments, the computer system 601 may store user/applicationdata 621, such as the data, variables, records, or the like as describedin this disclosure. Such databases may be implemented as fault-tolerant,relational, scalable, secure databases such as Oracle or Sybase, forexample. Alternatively, such databases may be implemented usingstandardized data structures, such as an array, hash, linked list,struct, structured text file (e.g., XML), table, or as object-orienteddatabases (e.g., using ObjectStore, Poet, Zope, etc.). Such databasesmay be consolidated or distributed, sometimes among the various computersystems discussed above in this disclosure. It is to be understood thatthe structure and operation of the any computer or database componentmay be combined, consolidated, or distributed in any workingcombination.

Furthermore, one or more computer-readable storage media may be utilizedin implementing embodiments consistent with the present invention. Acomputer-readable storage medium refers to any type of physical memoryon which information or data readable by a processor may be stored.Thus, a computer-readable storage medium may store instructions forexecution by one or more processors, including instructions for causingthe processor(s) to perform steps or stages consistent with theembodiments described herein. The term “computer-readable medium” shouldbe understood to include tangible items and exclude carrier waves andtransient signals, i.e., non-transitory. Examples include Random AccessMemory (RAM), Read-Only Memory (ROM), volatile memory, nonvolatilememory, hard drives, Compact Disc (CD) ROMs, Digital Video Disc (DVDs),flash drives, disks, and any other known physical storage media.

Various embodiments of the disclosure encompass numerous advantagesincluding methods and systems for providing multimodal content to afirst user. In an embodiment, the methods and systems may enable a userto associate a video file with an image file which can be viewed by theuser when the user clicks on the image. Further, the disclosed methodsand systems provide a means for a user to view additional multimodalcontent (audio or video) that is associated with a multimedia content,such as an image or a video file. Further, the multimodal content thatis to be viewed by the user is determined based on the preferences ofthe user and/or the demographic information of the user and hence a morepersonalized experience is provided to the user.

The present disclosure may be realized in hardware, or a combination ofhardware and software. The present disclosure may be realized in acentralized fashion, in at least one computer system, or in adistributed fashion, where different elements may be spread acrossseveral interconnected computer systems. A computer system or otherapparatus adapted for carrying out the methods described herein may besuited. A combination of hardware and software may be a general-purposecomputer system with a computer program that, when loaded and executed,may control the computer system such that it carries out the methodsdescribed herein. The present disclosure may be realized in hardwarethat comprises a portion of an integrated circuit that also performsother functions.

A person with ordinary skills in the art will appreciate that thesystems, modules, and sub-modules have been illustrated and explained toserve as examples and should not be considered limiting in any manner.It will be further appreciated that the variants of the above disclosedsystem elements, modules, and other features and functions, oralternatives thereof, may be combined to create other different systemsor applications.

Those skilled in the art will appreciate that any of the aforementionedsteps and/or system modules may be suitably replaced, reordered, orremoved, and additional steps and/or system modules may be inserted,depending on the needs of a particular application. In addition, thesystems of the aforementioned embodiments may be implemented using awide variety of suitable processes and system modules, and are notlimited to any particular computer hardware, software, middleware,firmware, microcode, and the like. The claims can encompass embodimentsfor hardware and software, or a combination thereof.

While the present disclosure has been described with reference tocertain embodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the artthat various changes may be made and equivalents may be substitutedwithout departing from the scope of the present disclosure. In addition,many modifications may be made to adapt a particular situation ormaterial to the teachings of the present disclosure without departingfrom its scope. Therefore, it is intended that the present disclosurenot be limited to the particular embodiment disclosed, but that thepresent disclosure will include all embodiments falling within the scopeof the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method of presenting a first user additionaldigital content associated with an administratively recorded digitalcontent for a real estate property, the method comprising: defining afirst user type as a user of a real estate software application nothaving administrative access to the real estate software application;defining a second user type as a user of a real estate softwareapplication having administrative access to the real estate softwareapplication; defining an admin digital content type as a digital contentcreated by a user belonging to the second user type, the admin digitalcontent type comprising only admin digital content; defining amultimodal digital content type as a digital content associated with anadmin digital content; the multimodal digital content type comprisingonly multimodal digital content; receiving, via the real estate softwareapplication, a first admin digital content, the first admin digitalcontent associated with a first real estate property; receiving, via thereal estate software application, a first multimodal digital content,the first multimodal digital content being associated with the firstadmin digital content; displaying, by an electronic device executing thesoftware application, first admin digital content to a first user;displaying in conjunction with the first admin content, a firstgraphical user interface element associated with the first multimodaldigital content; the first multimodal digital content comprising audio;receiving, by the electronic device, an input associated with thegraphical user interface element that is displayed along with the admincontent, wherein the input corresponds to a request by the user to playthe first multimodal; triggering, by the electronic device, apresentation of the first multimodal digital content in response to theuser input; recording a second multimodal digital content, and associatethe second multimodal digital content with the first user of thesoftware application's demographic information, psychographicinformation, or a first user preference; associating the firstmultimodal digital content with a first psychographic information type;associating the second multimodal digital content with a secondpsychographic information type; associating the first user of thesoftware application with a user psychographic information type; anddetermining which of the first or second multimodal digital content toprovide to the first user based on the user psychographic informationtype.
 2. The method of claim 1 further comprising associating the firstmultimodal digital content with a first demographic information.
 3. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the second multimodal digital contentcomprises a user opinion about the first admin digital content.
 4. Themethod of claim 1 wherein the first multimodal digital content comprisesa first audio content.
 5. The method of claim 1 wherein the first admindigital content is an image file.
 6. An electronic device that providesdigital multimodal content to a first user, the electronic devicecomprising: a hardware processor; and a memory communicatively coupledto the hardware processor, wherein the memory stores processorinstructions as software, which, on execution, causes the hardwareprocessor to: define a first user type as a user of a real estatesoftware application not having administrative access to the real estatesoftware application; define a second user type as a user of a realestate software application having administrative access to the realestate software application; define an admin digital content type as adigital content created by a user belonging to the second user type, theadmin digital content type comprising only admin digital content; definea multimodal digital content type as a digital content associated withan admin digital content; the multimodal digital content type comprisingonly multimodal digital content; receive, via the real estate softwareapplication, a first admin digital content, the first admin digitalcontent associated with a first real estate property; receive, via thereal estate software application, a first multimodal digital content,the first multimodal digital content being associated with the firstadmin digital content; display, by the electronic device executing thesoftware application, first admin digital content to a first user;display in conjunction with the first admin content, a first graphicaluser interface element associated with the first multimodal digitalcontent; the first multimodal digital content comprising audio; receive,by the electronic device, an input associated with the graphical userinterface element that is displayed along with the admin content,wherein the input corresponds to a request by the user to play the firstmultimodal content; trigger, by the electronic device, a presentation ofthe first multimodal digital content in response to the user input;record a second multimodal digital content, and associate the secondmultimodal digital content with the first user of the softwareapplication's demographic information, psychographic information, or afirst user preference; associate the first multimodal digital contentwith a first psychographic information type; associate the secondmultimodal digital content with a second psychographic information type;associate the first user of the software application with a userpsychographic information type; and determine which of the first orsecond multimodal digital content to provide to the first user based onthe user psychographic information type.
 7. The electronic device ofclaim 6 wherein the first multimodal digital content comprises at leasta video content.
 8. The electronic device of claim 6 wherein the firstadmin digital content is an image file.
 9. A non-transitory computerreadable medium including instruction stored thereon that when processedby at least one hardware processor cause an electronic device to performan operation comprising: defining a first user type as a user of a realestate software application not having administrative access to the realestate software application; defining a second user type as a user of areal estate software application having administrative access to thereal estate software application; defining an admin digital content typeas a digital content created by a user belonging to the second usertype, the admin digital content type comprising only admin digitalcontent; defining a multimodal digital content type as a digital contentassociated with an admin digital content; the multimodal digital contenttype comprising only multimodal digital content; receiving, via the realestate software application, a first admin digital content, the firstadmin digital content associated with a first real estate property;receiving, via the real estate software application, a first multimodaldigital content, the first multimodal digital content being associatedwith the first admin digital content; displaying, by the electronicdevice executing the software application, first admin digital contentto a first user; displaying in conjunction with the first admin content,a first graphical user interface element associated with the firstmultimodal digital content; the first multimodal digital contentcomprising audio; receiving, by the electronic device, an inputassociated with the graphical user interface element that is displayedalong with the admin content, wherein the input corresponds to a requestby the user to play the first multimodal content, and triggering, by theelectronic device, a presentation of the first multimodal digitalcontent in response to the user input; recording a second multimodaldigital content, and associate the second multimodal digital contentwith the first user of the software application's demographicinformation, psychographic information, or a first user preference;associating the first multimodal digital content with a firstpsychographic information type; associating the second multimodaldigital content with a second psychographic information type;associating the first user of the software application with a userpsychographic information type; and determining which of the first orsecond multimodal digital content to provide to the first user based onthe user psychographic information type.